As I am just a full time student that has never worked in a district before nor do I have a position at Wilkes that would need my opinion on software (I'm just a graduate assistant), I have no idea whether or not software selection forms are being used at the university. That being said, I will perform an analysis of the usefulness of the form from a couple various perspectives.
I imagine for a teacher, the sample form in the text would be quite useful in someways. It will clearly show what categories are addressed by the software as well as what guidelines in the curriculum it will meet. However the form appears to have expected the teacher to have used the software in question previously, instead of suggesting what may be beneficial to the classroom. Some of the information could be easily obtained from the manufacturer's website, such as RAM needed or examples of the graphics; other information, such as whether the directions are clear or if it is enjoyable to use, can only be gained from prior use of the software. One cannot also generally expect teachers to suggest vendors or what licensing is needed. Teachers are overworked as it is, this form shouldn't make even more work for them.
From another standpoint, there are a fair amount of 'logic' (for lack of a better word) flaws in the example provided by the text. First off, specify that the name of the teacher suggesting the software is needed on the first line. My initial thought is that the name of the software was desired, not the teacher's name. Although there is a line later for it, always make it obviously clear what is desired in a form. Give more room for notes, and put a small advisory comment that no two computers will run the software at exactly the same speed (even if they are the exact same model and were purchased at the same time). As someone who has gone through software engineering courses, I feel inclined to point this out: there is no such thing as truly bug free software. There are always new and better ways to 'break' a program, although they do go through rigorous testing (there are entire divisions where all they do is attempt to break stuff).
Basically my opinion on software selection forms is they do have a place in schools. Just make sure that they do not make unnecessary extra work for teachers, that they are explicit, and don't use the term 'bug free'.
I liked that you used logic to describe one of the reasons to use a software selection form. Schools should use logic. I still find it painful seeing teachers who have promethium boards in the classrooms and all they are using it for is a glorified chalk board. This will continue to happen if schools purchase technology for teachers that won’t use them. I teach music and don’t have a promethium board but would love to have one.
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